Find Magnificent Obsession Depicted By Lloyd C. Douglas File

book didn't rise nearly to the heights of The Robe, It has
good intentions, but falls flat, Douglas doesn't seem to be sure what
kind of book he wants to write, Sometimes it reads like a romance novel
and other times like a religious novel, but a very apologetic one, He
seems almost ashamed of proclaiming any sort of religious belief, He
tries to pigeonhole religion as a science, sneering at those "namby
pamby folks" who sing hymns and recite scripture.
In fact, I don't
know if he ever refers to Christ by name, rather than calling him the
"Galilean" and calling God the "Major Personality".
It is sad after the
power of The Robe, It is wonderful that his characters were helping
people without any desire of recognition, but the motivation for doing so
bothered me.
It seemed as if the whole thing was a tract to convince people
to be more compassionate while tiptoeing around Christ and His power and
divinity.
A selfish playboy is saved from death and sees the error of his ways, He devotes the rest of his life to becoming a firstrate surgeon in order to replace the fine doctor who died because of his selfishness.
Through a careful study of the bible, he also decides to perform good deeds in secret for the benefit of mankind, Oh, if only people were like this, I shouldn't be too cynical, There are actually some people like this, Many, in fact.

Today, we would call this "Paying It Forward", The story gets a bit soapy at times, but the basic premise is so intriguing that I found myself suspending my disbelief and getting swept along.
I am currently rereading thisedition I purchased for,at the public library. I read this many years ago as a teenager, then again as a young mother, I still find enjoyment and inspiration in the theme of the book now as I enter my's, To serve without expecting recognition, reward or thanks is a rather unusual approach to life, This is a theme often popular at Christmas by giving to the needy without expecting anything in return except the warm feelings in the heart.
In this book, the young, wild Merrick finds powerful reason to reform his life and pursue a life of productivity as a brain surgeon as well as greatly strengthen his personality by giving, serving, helping those he notices who have a particular need.
He requests no payment or acknowledgment in return for his gift is "all used up" and cannot be given back, This path leads to an amazing gift to him of incredible creativity that will publicly bless many lives and actually brings much notoriety.
Whether this can be applied in real life, outside of fiction is for the reader to discover as he pursues his own paths through life.
I have seen the Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson movie several times, but had yet read thisst edition book that I found in an end table I purchased at a flea market.
And I must say the book surpassed the excellent movie, It is a moving book that epitomizes the Christmas and New Year Seasons, Interwoven lives are affected by tragic accidents, Saved from drowning, Robert Merrick learns the price that was paid by eminent Dr, Wayne Hudson and transforms his life to continue Hudsons work and make amends to those closest to the late surgeon as well as to the community.
But to accomplish this, Merrick must learn Hudsons secret and in doing so he will embark upon a MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION,

He emulates Hudson so closely that he transcends his shallow man/boy lifestyle and becomes prominent in the same field as Hudson.
Merrick willfully does good deeds without expectation swearing his charges to secrecy and refuses payment of any kind because “his gift is all used up.
” Though MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION is a beautiful love story, it is a wonderful Christian allegory that doesnt preach Douglass philosophy, Revealing more of the plot would spoil the book for readers, I highly recommend readers to discover Helen Hudson and Robert Merrick and others that were closed to the late Dr, Hudson. The slightly stilted prose may be off putting in todays era the novel was published in, Its message is still pertinent in, and what a beautiful love story,
When Robert Merrick's life is saved at the expense of the life of an eccentric but adored surgeon, the carefree playboy is forced to reevaluate his own path.
Merrick embarks on a course of anonymous philanthropy, inspired by reading the doctor's private papers, An engaging and dramatic story of personal redemption and private sacrifice, this spiritual tale has served as an inspiration for both the stage and screen.
Written by Lloyd C. Douglas, author of “The Robe”, this is an interesting tale of the impact that serving others can have on an individuals search for purpose and significance.
Wealthy philanderer, Bobby Merricks life is saved while a beloved surgeon, Dr, Hudsons life is lost. The weight of that realization forces young Robert Merrick to appraise and take measure of the direction his life has been heading.
When he gains access to Dr, Hudsons personal journals he learns that there is more to life than personal gratification and pleasure, and sets about to redeem his squandered life.

I did enjoy this inspirational story although I felt as if Merricks inspiration came from the model of Jesus and the Gospel, and yet that was never made clear.
The terms that the author chose were quite ambiguous and that was disappointing, Read ages ago, so I'm going by a rusty memory, However, I do remember that I wanted to tell the WORLD about it, but one mustn't do that if one wishes to do that.
Even as a teen, I understood the concept, and it's loss should I decide to bring it to the mundane by sharing it with.
. . anyone. Oh, did I forget to mention, you can share the book just fine, It's the magnificent obsession itself that needs to live in the privacy of one's own soul,

It still informs some of my more pure actions today to a degree, though not the same as years ago when I read it.
I think that is an improvement, though if I read it again, I think I would find renewed enthusiasm, One of my favorites alltime! Just DON'T see the movie, You would think with Rock Hudson and Jane Weyman it would be pretty good, Unfortunately, they only kept the romance which they still changed and left out the best part of the book the message, The message I got from the book is that anything you do for others comes back to you multiplied, I read it the first time in junior high and it has had a lasting impact! "Magnificent Obsession" by Lloyd Douglas was published inand, because of that dating, suffers some from stilted language and dialogue.
Be that as it may, it was an inspirational story about someone who finds God in his life, For the reader, once past the first chapter and by then used to the literary style, the book opens up and the pages fly by.
A special layer in the tale is that while the protagonist is finding God, a circular and sweet love story takes place.


This was a delightful read about serving others, The narrative reminded me of a lates TV showThe Millionaire, In that show the reclusive John Beresford Tipton would anonymously give away money to people he did not knowmuch like “Magnificent Obsessions” Robert Merrick doing good deeds for others.
Good read First sentence: It had lately become common chatter at Brightwood Hospitalbetter known for three hundred miles around Detroit as Hudson's Clinicthat the chief was all but dead on his feet.
The whole place buzzed with it,

Premise/plot: Two menone supposedly a "saint" and the other a "sinner"both in dire need of medical equipment to save their lives.
The problem Well, there's only one machine, The socalled "sinner," Robert Bobby Merrick is the one whose life is saved, For the record, I don't think a choice was deliberately made at any point by any medical staff to choose one over the other.
It's just that the equipment/machine was currently being used to save Bobby's life WHEN Doctor Hudson the socalled "saint" subsequently needed it.
Everyone within threehundred miles loathes Bobby Merrick for existing, If it wasn't for the likes of him, their precious, dear, beloved, incredibly saintly Dr, Hudson might still be hereworking himself to death, The staff doesn't hide itnot even a littleand are downright hostile and cruel, So it's no surprise when Merrick develops a guilt complex and finds himself pledging to be a sinner no more, Off to medical school he'll go, He'll train to become a brain surgeon, He'll do EVERYTHING to fill the doctor's shoes, No matter how weird or creepy,

Turns out that the doctor had a gnostic/mystical newagey obsessive philosophy about how to live life, He wrote all about it in a journalin code that would have to be deciphered, For better or worse, Bobby Merrick is able to decipher the code and, you guessed it, Hudson's obsession is transferred completely to Merrick.


My thoughts: How to describe this one Weird Creepy Odd Disappointing Those might be my own descriptions, But they wouldn't be objective descriptions, I am trying to untangle how much of my reaction is tied into the incredibly horrible theology, and how much is tied into the plot and characterization.
Because obviously, not every single reader is going to find the religious content objectionable, or, perhaps better phrased as objectionable for the exact same reasons.
Two readers could agree that the religious aspects made a mess of this novel, but, disagree as to how and why,

I'll start with something that I think is more objective and still slightly creepy, In Bobby Merrick's need to "take the place of Dr, Hudson," that includes the need to be a FATHER to his daughter and a HUSBAND to his wife, In other words, in addition to wanting to become a surgeon so he could potentially save the lives Dr, Hudson might have saved had he lived longer, he wants to step in as FATHER and HUSBAND to Hudson's family, The romance didn't feel organicin my humble opinion, It was predictable, tacky, slightly weird,

Bobby Merrick, when first introduced, is not in the slightest religious or spiritual, He would never in a million years call himself a Christian, By the end of the book, he still has hesitations as to the label Christian, Through reading Hudson's notes, he takes an interest in the New Testament and the Galilean, He realizes that for almost two thousand years, people have been missing the point totally and completely, The New Testament is a methodical, formulaic equation, If you DO a b c, then the Major Personality Merrick refuses to label him God will follow through with blessing you x y z.
It isn't so much about the next life, eternal life, or believing and trusting in youknowwho, It is all about what you can get out of this life in the here and now, How a person can "work the system" "stack the deck" do everything just so that everything always, always, always goes your way.
Any faith you might have as a result of reading the New Testament, is faith in your faith, He is so excited that he's figured out a way to make religion work for himand cut the Major Personality almost out altogetherthat he's eager to go forth and proselytize.
He even convinces a pastor, To be fair, the pastor at best was an agnostic going through the motions who didn't believe in God all that much but he didn't want to shock the old people in his congregation too much, too fast.
Merrick ridicules the "old time religion" throughout, In particular, he ridicules DEVOTION, adoration, any touch of sentimentality that would have people praising and worshiping God, The Bible to Merrick is just like an algebra book,

Obviously, as I mentioned, I have personal objections to this type of religious book, I don't expect any other reader to agree, But I do think that so much of this book is taken up in being didactic, And NOT in a way that is clear, logical, reasonable, I found the writing to be vague, mystical, and CONFUSING as all get out, His religious catchphrases were so foreign to me personally, But he was big into personality implanting and sending out your personality And something about how your personality is connected with others so that when someone dies part of your personality soul dies as well Anyway, I truly think half the book is gibberish at best.
I'm labeling it as gnostic/mystic/newagey simply because of the whole "I'vegotasecret" aspect of it, Also it borders on the idea of wealthprosperitygospel teaching, But it doesn't fit exactly,

What you are left with at the end of the day is philosophizing and a sloppily thrown together romance,

Plus, as a modern reader I am curious about what brain surgeons would have been able to dothe kinds of things they could treat, the surgeries performed, the outcomes of their patientsin thes when this book was both written and set.
But the book is about anything but actual medicine or medical practices, I am not sure how long it would have taken for someone to go to medical school and become a brain surgeon, but it takes Bobby Merrick three years to become a brain surgeon and take Doctor Hudson's place at

the hospital.


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